Crystal Clear Memories
by Rangergirl3
Summary: It's about damn time we learned how the Paladins first met each other. Written because I couldn't resist diving into the backstories of our favorite characters. Fair warning: This fic relies heavily on the previous stories in my 'Lost Paladins' series...so if you haven't read those...um...sorry...but you're on your own. ;-) Cross-Posted on Archive of Our Own under the same title.
1. Fight

As his opponent's sword came at him, Shiro felt a smile cross his face.

 _Finally. A chance to show these bastards what he could do._

He dodged the blow easily and struck out with his own weapon, the one he'd chosen specifically for this fight. It was modeled after the weapons the training bot used, but Shiro always thought of the weapon as a bo staff.

His opponent took the hit, staggered, and kept coming. Shiro whirled the staff around and swept its legs out from under it. As it struggled to regain its feet, he dealt it a resounding blow to the chest with the end of the staff.

The light in the center of its chest flickered and died, signaling a fatal hit, and the Proselyt training bot shimmered out of existence.

Shiro wasn't even breathing hard. He turned to face the room again.

"Come on, then," he snarled. "Let's finish this."

Three more enemies approached him, weapons raised, and Shiro leapt forward with a roar.

* * *

Earlier that day, Keith had told Shiro that bed-rest would be the death of him. Shiro had only just managed to smile and told him they'd get back to the Castle as soon as possible.

"Yeah, yeah," Keith grumbled. "I know."

He'd looked around the room then, and Shiro knew his friend was trying hard not to show how much he wanted to get out of the tunnels. Shiro remembered how desperately scared Keith had been when he'd first woken up, and the memory made him grind his teeth.

"…uh…Shiro?"

Keith's voice was inquisitive, but not scared. Not anymore. Shiro brought himself back to the present with an effort.

"Yeah?"

"You look like you want to kill something."

Shiro laughed, but it was a short sound, not at all humorous, though his next words were.

"You know me _so_ well-"

"I should - I've known you since I was - like, four."

Shiro rolled his eyes. "Uh-huh, I remember that - you were _short_ \- "

Nearby, Lance and Pidge and Hunk were working on assembling something that looked like an abstract puzzle. They'd originally brought it out for Keith, but he'd gotten bored after about five minutes, so they'd moved it away and begun working on it themselves.

Lance's head shot up in interest, and he bounded over to where Keith and Shiro were talking. He'd long since recovered from his cold, and his hands were mostly healed, but he had insisted on staying near the infirmary all the same, claiming that he was part of the official 'Boredom Prevention' squad, with Pidge, Hunk, and Beyris making up the rest of the group.

"Ooh! Oooh!" Lance said, practically hopping up and down in excitement. "So, like, were you guys classmates - or foster brothers - or what?! I've been dying to find out!"

Shiro and Keith both blinked and looked at each other.

"…kinda…both…" Shiro said. "Keith and I grew up together. Our families were neighbors - and when he came to Garrison, we roomed together. Actually…"

He scratched his head and looked at Keith. "When _did_ we first meet?"

Keith looked off into the distance for a few seconds, his face pensive as he answered.

"…wasn't it…at a Garrison event? Some sort of picnic? I think I was there with my parents…and you were there as a new student…so maybe…you were ten and I was…four?"

Lance's mouth dropped open, and interest radiated off him. "Wow! You met when you were _that_ young?"

Shiro looked at Keith, still shaking his head. "I'm sorry - " he said, "- I don't - "

Keith seemed to be counting on his fingers, and then he nodded decisively. "Yeah, I would have been about four. Didn't I knock you down?"

Shiro thought hard for a minute, and then his face cleared. "Oh yeah, I do remember that. I think you were racing someone else and barreled right into me. We all went sprawling, and all I could think was _damn_ , this kid is _fast_."

He gave his old friend a half-fond, half-exasperated look. "You were always running head-first into things-"

Keith gave Shiro a sarcastic thumbs-up. It was hard to manage, given that his arms, hands, and fingers were still in the process of healing and were still stiff and clumsy, but he managed it.

"Glad to know I made an impression, Shiro."

Lance snorted in laughter, and Keith looked confused.

"Impression! Get it? You fell down and…oh, never mind…" Lance said, but from over at the puzzle table, Pidge giggled.

"Nice one, Lance," she said, and Lance visibly brightened when he saw that she'd gotten his joke.

Hunk looked up at them all, three puzzle pieces still in his fingers.

"Hey!" he said excitedly. "Maybe we could all tell the stories of when we met for the first time! You know, like track back to when we first encountered each other!"

Lance nodded excitedly. "That's a great idea, Hunk! Though it might be tricky - I mean, Garrison is a huge place, and it's hard to remember _everything_ \- "

Pidge was trying to find the corners of the puzzle, and she was having some trouble.

"These things are needlessly complicated sometimes _,_ " she muttered, and Hunk nodded absently in agreement just as Allura came into the room and told them that the Council was about to send off the remaining conspirators into exile.

Keith had half-frowned in confusion.

"Just now? It's been, like, four weeks."

"Two," Allura corrected, but her tone was gentle.

Keith looked down at his arms and hands, which were still encased in glowing cyber-splints. The interruption of the healing cycle meant that he needed more recuperation time than normal. The bones had long since mended, but the cyber-splints were still necessary to help Keith's muscles and tendons return to their normal, healthy state.

Shiro remembered the day when Coran and Allura had told Rayzor and Aurelis that Keith was descended from a Druid. The two Proselyt had immediately sworn their silence, but it wasn't out of fear for what others might think. It was out of concern for the Red Paladin's safety.

 _The last thing we want is for Haggar to discover that she has a grandson._

The thought of Haggar trying to use Keith as a weapon against the team made Shiro want to kill something again. He wouldn't let that happen. He would make sure Haggar _never_ got the chance to hurt his friend like that -

With an effort, Shiro pulled his attention back to the present once more. Keith was saying something to himself.

"Ha - two weeks - it _feels_ like four - maybe even six -" Keith said under his breath. Beyris looked up from the game of checkers she'd been setting up on the table by his bed and poked Keith's knee with one of her elbows. Keith jumped and looked down at her.

" _Stars_ , Beyris," he said, and Shiro had to smile at his friend's surprise. Keith was so rarely startled by anything, it was always enjoyable to see his reaction. "I keep forgetting you're there - can't you like, grow six inches or something? You know, to help me see you better?"

Beyris shook her head. "Don't be silly, Keith. I'm the perfect height!"

Seated at his desk behind her, Aurelis muttered something under his breath. A mischievous grin spread across Beyris' face, and she leaned backwards in her small chair so she was looking directly up into Aurelis' eyes and threw her arms wide open. At the same time, she crossed her eyes and stuck out her tongue, startling the healer so badly he jumped in his seat and dropped the papers he was holding.

"GAH!" he said, and scowled down at her as Beyris uncrossed her eyes and beamed up at him again in apparent innocence. Even Shiro laughed as the healer bent down to gather up the papers, muttering something about 'incorrigible prankster' and 'just like your father when he was your age'.

"See?" Beyris said. "Perfect height. 'urelis never sees me comin'." She leaned forward in her chair again and grinned up at them all, obviously quite proud of her accomplishment. On her lap, the mice chittered and chirped in what seemed to be applause.

Lance wiped a pretend tear from his eye and sniffed proudly. "That's my Padawan."

Keith reached out his still-somewhat bandaged hand in a pretend Force choke-hold towards the Blue Paladin. His arms were mostly healed, but still, Shiro saw him wince even as he said, completely dead-pan, "I find your lack of creative references disturbing," and Lance pretended to claw the air in an effort to breathe, being wildly dramatic and flailing around like a fish out of water.

Beyris had seen the movies with Lance the day before, and she chuckled as she went back to setting up the checkerboard. Hunk laughed so hard, he dropped the puzzle pieces he'd been holding, even as Pidge shook her head sadly and said, "It _only_ works if you do the _voice_ , Keith -"

Keith had half-glared over at her, about to argue the point, but then Coran had poked his head into the room and asked Allura and Shiro to come with him, and they'd gone to the Council chambers, where the three conspirators had insisted on their 'right' to a trial by combat.

Needless to say, it didn't go the way the conspirators had hoped.


	2. Control

As Shiro faced the three opponents, he felt the anger and rage swell inside him as if no time had passed since the fight with Jenick.

It had been two weeks since Keith had almost died. Two weeks since Shiro had killed the man responsible.

 _Well, one of them_ , he told himself. _The other three are watching you._

Out of the corner of his eye, Shiro glanced up at the observation deck that looked out over the training room. Usually, it was reserved for high ranking officials or Council members who wished to observe training exercises from a place of safety.

Rayzor stood there now, six of his men surrounding three figures - the only surviving members of Jenick's attempted coup d'etat. Allura and Coran stood up there as well, along with all the members of the Council.

All told, it was an impressive audience. But then again, Jenick's surviving followers had requested a trial by combat at the last possible moment, just as they had been about to be taken to a distant moon. It had been a desperate move on their part - maybe they all preferred death to a life away from their civilization.

The Alteans, Shiro, and Council had all gathered to witness their official exile, and that's when the three conspirators had made their last-minute request.

* * *

 _Rayzor shook his head. "Impossible. Your sentence has been decided upon by the Council - unanimously, I might add. Given_ ** _that's_** _never happened before, there really is no room for discussion-"_

 _"We insist," one of the men said. "It's our right."_

 _Shiro had curled his hands into fists at their arrogance, and he spoke without heeding any kind of protocol or politeness._

 _"It's funny - " he said, and his voice was iron hard, almost ice cold. " - how you use that word so easily."_

 _Rayzor had glanced over at Shiro, along with the other members of the Council. Allura and Coran had looked concerned, but Shiro thought their concern was more for the three conspirators than for him._

 _"We wish to-" the man began again, but Rayzor cut him off, his face as set as stone._

 _"No. The Council has decided. Your sentence of banishment is unalterable."_

 _"But-"_

 _This time, it was Shiro who cut the man off mid-word. The Black Paladin had turned to face the Council, and his voice had been calm, steady, and unnervingly cold._

 _"You have a training room?"_

 _The members of the Council nodded._

 _"Fully equipped for battle simulation?"_

 _Rayzor almost smiled when he answered. He knew where Shiro was going with this._

 _"Yes, Paladin."_

 _Shiro looked back at the remaining conspirators, and his eyes were the color of steel._

 _"I'm not on the Council, and I'm not about to go against their decision."_

 _Shiro's direct look made the three Proselyt swallow and look down at the floor as he continued speaking, his voice still cold and even._

 _"I'm not going to fight any of you. Your sentence has been decided, and you should be grateful it's not more severe. But if it's that important to your 'honor', I'll gladly show you what_ ** _would_** _happen if you fought me in battle."_

 _Beside him, Coran shifted his weight from one foot to the other._

 _"Are you certain, Shiro?" Coran asked him in a low voice. "Are you certain that you - ah - wish to fight like this?"_

 _Shiro understood Coran's question. It stemmed from a genuine concern for Shiro's state of mind. Not so long ago, Shiro himself would have thought that a flashback might compromise his ability to fight in an arena setting, with people watching his every move. But he'd been fine during the fight with Jenick, and Shiro knew with utter certainty he would be fine during this fight too._

 _Ever since Black had answered his call on Haggar's ship, it felt like the witch's power over Shiro had begun to ebb away. In answering Shiro's summons, Black had broken irrevocably with Zarkon, and that had - somehow - also weakened the witch's influence over Shiro._

 _The nightmares weren't gone, of course, or the fear, or the pain. The time Shiro had spent as a prisoner of the Galra had left its mark. Evil did that. You couldn't just pretend it never happened._

 _But wounded didn't mean the same thing as defeated. The witch had been a fool to think that breaking someone was the same as beating them._

 _Shiro was angry, but he was in control. So Shiro had just nodded curtly, once, and Coran nodded back in understanding. Shiro saw the Royal Advisor's shoulders relax, ever so slightly._

 _Coran's question hadn't been an implication that Shiro was weak. It showed the Royal Advisor thought ahead, looked at all the possibilities. It was his job to do that. Shiro understood his friend's concern, and he was glad to have someone like Coran on his side._

 _Shiro saw Allura looking at him and gave her a confident half-wink._

 _"It won't take long," he said, and as Allura returned his half-smile, Shiro realized this was just as important for the Council to witness as the conspirators. The Council knew that Shiro was a warrior and a renowned fighter, but they had never seen him in battle._

 _Shiro decided that they would see exactly what he was capable of._

* * *

The first training bot had been a warmup, a Level Two.

Shiro had almost laughed when the three former conspirators had insisted their robot stand-ins should be Level Three. Instead, he'd just kept his face still and solemn and serious when he'd nodded in agreement.

 _Child's play._

As he turned in a circle, tracking each of his opponent's movements, a song started going through his head - a song that he had shown Keith while they'd been roommates at Garrison, a long time ago. It was strangely appropriate given the setting, though he was pretty sure Commander Holt would kill him if Pidge heard some of the words in it.

 _Are you ready? Are you ready - let's go!_

The three bots came at Shiro then, quick and fast and skilled. He felt a savage smile cross his face, and he knew it was a very, very good thing that these were bots he was facing, because it meant he didn't have to hold back.

 _Everybody in the world are you with me?_

He dodged and turned and struck, glad that all his time in the arena could give him strength to do this, give him a chance to show these bastards just how lucky they were not to come up against him in a real fight.

 _It's too late to try to run, we run the city_

The end of his bo staff slammed into one of the bot's chests. Electricity sparked and whirred and hummed, and then Shiro kicked the damaged bot backwards with such force, it rolled and bounced until it was several feet away.

 _It's my time, it's show time_

The other two bots came at him together, but he moved fast, keeping ahead of their hits with practiced skill and strategy.

 _Held me down, now it's don't give a **** time_

Shiro smiled again, this time only to himself. He'd figured out how to take them down now.

 _It's go time, it's show time_

Enough defense.

 _Sing it with me everybody let's go_

It was time to kick some robot ass.

 _'Cause it's one, it's one, one for the money_

Shiro stepped back and brought his weapon up in a strike that took the head off the first training bot, and its cybernetic body juddered and flickered out of existence even as he turned and swept the legs out from under the second bot.

 _Two, it's two 'cause two is for the show_

Shiro activated the weapons setting in his cybernetic arm even as he tossed the bo staff into the air with practiced ease. He struck once with his cybernetic arm, punching a hole clean through the bot's chest cavity. It flickered and disappeared into shimmers of light even as Shiro caught the bo staff once more in his left hand.

 _Three, it's three, three to get ready_

Shiro sensed the third and final bot staggering up behind him, weapon raised, intent on striking him down. He rolled out of harm's way, dodged the blow, and brought the staff up to block the next strike as it came at his neck.

 _Are you ready, everybody?_

They stood there for a moment, weapons locked, but Shiro knew he'd already won. His opponent was injured and couldn't hold out much longer.

 _Are you ready? Let's go!_

Shiro won the struggle, shoving the bot back a few crucial steps. As the bot staggered backwards, the Black Paladin struck out fiercely with his glowing cybernetic arm. The fighting bot tcrumpled to the ground, a hissing, sizzling wound opened from its left shoulder to the center of its torso.

Shiro caught his balance and took a few seconds to regain his breath, wiping the sweat off his forehead with his human hand, keeping his back to the viewing platform. Then he turned slightly and looked over his shoulder at Allura and Coran.

Out of habit, he braced himself for fear or apprehension in their expressions. This was the second time in less than fifteen days they'd seen him completely destroy opponents in battle - but they weren't scared of him. Instead, they just looked at him with - not pity, it wasn't something that simple. It was something harder to name. Shiro thought the closest he could come to describing it was empathy.

He felt a genuine half-smile of relief cross his face, and Allura returned it. At that, Shiro turned to face the viewing platform head-on, and he saw that the Council was clearly awed by his fighting capabilities.

 _Guess I made an impression._

The three remaining conspirators were standing completely still, like rabbits faced by a fox. A part of Shiro wanted to gloat in dark satisfaction at the fear in their eyes, but he knew that could only lead him down a very black road.

But - these men were scum - scum who had just stood by while Jenick -

 _No. I don't take pride in instilling fear in others._

 _I'm not like Haggar._

When he'd fought Jenick, it had taken every ounce of self-control Shiro possessed to keep from breaking every bone in that bastard's body, to keep from slamming him into the walls and floor of the arena until the man begged for mercy. Even now, weeks later, it was all too easy for Shiro to see red whenever he thought about how badly these three bastards had hurt his friend, or how they had just stood by and watched while Jenick had caused a good man unimaginable pain.

It was understandable - this anger, this rage - but it wasn't healthy to dwell on it too long. It was all too easy to become what you fought that way. So instead of holding onto the rage, Shiro had concentrated on training, on talking to Black and Allura and Coran, on spending time with the younger Paladins in a more informal setting, and on helping his friend heal.

Shiro would never, ever forget what these men had done to his friend. But he refused to let their actions define who he was as a person.

So Takashi Shirogane just smiled directly up at the conspirators, and it was a smile of confident satisfaction without a trace of malice. He _did_ make sure to show all his teeth, just to make absolutely certain these men realized how badly they'd miscalculated when they'd decided to harm a man Shiro considered a brother.

" _Still_ want to insist on trial by combat?" Shiro asked, and he saw Rayzor turn to regard the three men with fire in his eyes and an almost hopeful expression. Apparently Shiro wasn't the only one in the room doing his best not to kill these guys on sight.

"I think that's unlikely," Coran said in a low voice to Allura. "These men are arrogant, not stupid." The Princess barely managed to hold back a smile, because Coran was right. The three men went into exile without any further protest.

* * *

As they returned to the infirmary, Allura looked at Shiro, and she saw that his shoulders were still as tense as they had been for over two weeks. Allura couldn't blame him. He'd woken up from his cryo-sleep only to discover that his oldest friend had almost been killed.

 _Not just killed,_ Allura thought to herself. _Keith was in horrible pain - and he thought that we - that we -_

She tried to push the memories from her mind. It wasn't easy, but she had to try.

"Well, at last _that's_ over," Coran was saying. Allura gladly diverted her attention to the Royal Advisor as he continued to speak.

"Now that Keith is well on his way into recovery, I believe it is time for us to return to the Castle."

Allura nodded emphatically in agreement as Coran continued.

"Of course, we'll return there with the Lions, and then we can finally have each Paladin give their Lion their crystal!"

Shiro looked over at Coran, confusion crossing his face. "I thought they'd already done that," he said. "I mean, I know I haven't - not yet - but - "

Coran shook his head. "It's something that we can only do after all five Paladins complete a special mental exercise," he explained. "It's - well - it's like what you've done before - but on a completely different level."

The Royal Advisor didn't miss the look that Allura and Shiro shared before they looked at him again.

"…how…is that…exactly?" Shiro asked, his voice slightly wary. Allura reached out and gripped Shiro's flesh hand in a way that was neither pitying nor condescending, and he looked down at her.

"I've gone through the records myself," she said, keeping her voice low, confident, reassuring. "The specific phrasing of the original text says that when the crystals are brought together, the Paladins of Voltron gain insight into the deepest nature of their fellow Paladins. Sometimes that means that specific memories are shared, but more often than not, it's…it's more a collection of moments or choices that define who they are as a person."

She looked straight into Shiro's eyes and said, with complete and utter confidence, "Your deepest nature is nothing they will fear or despise, Shiro."

Shiro seemed to believe her, but he still seemed wary of the concept. The expression on Coran's face was understanding as he spoke.

"Shiro - if it helps - I know for a fact that you are not the first Paladin to - to have - "

"-unpleasant past experiences?" Shiro finished, a somewhat forced half-smile crossing his face.

Coran nodded, and Allura squeezed his hand, once, reassuringly as she spoke again. "We'll all be there to help you. Black will also be there if you need her - I promise, we won't allow _any_ harm to come to you or the others. I _promise_ , Shiro."

Shiro glanced up past the ceiling of the tunnel, to where his Lion waited for him, out of sight but never out of mind. Allura glanced up to where the Black Lion waited for her Paladin, and she smiled. "Also, I get the impression that your Lion in particular is quite - "

"-protective," Shiro said, looking back at her, and his voice was proud, confident, and just a little bit humorous. "Yeah…I kinda got that feeling too."

Allura smiled at him, and her voice was slightly teasing when she spoke next. "Oh, Shiro, how Black completely _obliterating_ a giant evil machine and nearly clawing Haggar to pieces could have given you that impression, I have _no_ idea."

Shiro really smiled at that, and Allura was glad he did. When he looked between her and Coran again, he seemed to be slightly more at ease.

"All right," he said. "If you're sure."

Coran nodded, clapping Shiro on the shoulder. "I'm absolutely certain, Shiro. We're in this together, and there's nothing to fear from this mental exercise."

Shiro nodded, and Allura felt him squeeze her hand back once, reassuringly. She smiled to herself.

Haggar had thought she could turn him into her greatest weapon.

Allura could have laughed.

He was no one's weapon. He was Takashi Shirogane, Black Paladin of Voltron.

Haggar was just a witch who was really good at hurting people. In the end, she was nothing, _had_ nothing other than hate and malice.

Allura smiled to herself again as they entered the infirmary. She thought that if there were ever any comparison made between the two, Shiro would win in any category, every time.

But then, Allura told herself, her opinion was far from unbiased.

Still, it didn't mean she was wrong.


	3. Argument

Aurelis crossed his arms and shook his head, once, stubbornly.

"Absolutely not. I won't hear of it."

Lance threw his arms wide open. "Aw, come on, Aurelis, he's way better than he was - and he's bored out of his mind! Surely we can just take him on a short flight - it's wouldn't even be a very difficult trip - "

The healer glowered at Lance as he replied. "I am his - "

He paused, thinking hard for a moment, his eyebrows furrowing. "- what was that word you used before?"

"Doctor," Hunk offered, and the healer nodded at the Yellow Paladin as he continued.

"Yes, thank you, Hunk. I am his doctor - moreover, I am the appointed healer for _all_ of you, and I cannot approve of his resuming normal activity at this time. It's simply - "

Keith let out an exasperated breath and raised a hand. "Hey. I'm _right_ here, guys. How 'bout asking me what I think - "

Pidge snorted and kept typing on her new tablet. She was sitting on the edge of his bed and he heard her response clearly.

"Shut up, dude. You're _injured_. We get to make _all_ the decisions-"

Keith glowered down at her, but he saw her smirk and realized she'd been joking. He huffed out a breath and looked back at Lance and Aurelis, who continued to bicker about whether or not Keith could manage the flight back to the Castle. Hunk saw Keith's shoulders slump at the healer's repeated refusal to Lance's request.

"I am _never_ going to get out of here," Keith muttered, and Pidge looked up at him quickly, her eyes narrowing behind her glasses. She'd heard a trace of genuine discouragement in his voice, and it concerned her. Keith was many things - loyal, impulsive, and sometimes reckless, but he was rarely dispirited. She looked over at Hunk, who clearly had come to a similar conclusion. The Yellow Paladin turned back towards Lance and Aurelis, and he stood up, interrupting their conversation.

"Look," he said, and both of them turned to face him. "I think it'd be good for us all to get back to the Castle. Lance is right - it's been way too long. But Aurelis is also right, because Keith can't just jump right back into things - "

"Well, I _could_ ," Keith said under his breath.

Pidge half-grinned at him as she answered. "Yeah, but you'd delay your recovery time if you did." Keith made a face of disgust before he answered.

"…fair point…" he mumbled back at her. She smirked and went back to typing on her computer as Hunk continued. "So, I've got an idea. Aurelis, why don't you just come with us to the Castle? That way, you'd be able to monitor Keith's condition - and the rest of us too - you being our healer and all - but we'd finally be able to go back to a place where Keith feels more - uh - comfortable."

Aurelis glanced back at Keith, who had sat up a little straighter and was looking hopefully at the healer.

"Keith, you'd still have to rest," the healer said. "It'll be at _least_ another week before you're back to normal - and you'd have to be very careful when you fly Red back to the Castle - "

"That's fine." Keith said, a little too quickly. Pidge looked up from her screen and nodded. "It's just the right change of scenery he needs, Aurelis. Don't worry, we'll help you make sure he doesn't overdo anything."

Keith snorted. "Pidge, come on. You're half my height. How are you going t-"

Pidge gave him a level look over her glasses, still typing away, and he stopped mid-word, feeling unsure if she was joking or not when she said, very evenly,

"Keith, I can hack into pretty much anything. I'm sure I could make the Castle keep you on bedrest indefinitely if I needed to."

Keith laughed, but it wasn't in contempt of her skills. It sounded more like he found the situation amusing. "What, you'd make the mice keep me away from the training room? Or try to put a parking brake on Red?"

Pidge chuckled at the thought. " _Please_. I'd just lock down all the training rooms with my universal remote, and Green and I would have a word with Red."

She adjusted her glasses. "And by 'have a word with Red', I mean we'd make sure your injured ass stayed in bed until you made a full recovery."

Keith rolled his eyes. "Gee, thanks, Katie."

Pidge shrugged her shoulders, keeping her gaze level and matter of fact. "You're welcome, Pyro."

Even though he attempted to keep his tone grumpy, a genuine smile flickered through Keith's eyes as he answered.

" _Fine_."

Pidge nodded once and turned her full attention back to coding, not looking up as Lance leaned a little further away from the shortest Paladin and spoke out of the corner of his mouth to Hunk.

"Remind me never to piss her off. She's got a _universal_ _remote_."

Hunk smiled to himself and saw the healer's mouth twitch into something resembling a smirk.

Pidge spoke again even as her fingers kept flying over the keys. "Seriously, though. I agree with Lance. I vote Castle. What say you?"

"Castle," Keith said immediately.

"Castle," Hunk said. "-but with Aurelis."

The healer sighed, but nodded. "All _right_ \- as long as I'm able to continue monitoring Keith's condition - and he doesn't overexert himself - "

Keith looked away, grumbling, and Pidge smirked to herself as she heard him mutter something about healers being over-concerned just because he'd almost set the room on fire that _one_ _time._

Once Shiro and the Alteans returned, they'd be able to tell them of their idea. Pidge felt certain no one would object to returning to the Castle.


	4. Lions

As he walked down Blue's ramp, Lance cupped his hands over his mouth and shouted in joy.

"HELLO, CASTLE MY OLD FRIEND!"

The echoes that came back were magnified, and Lance turned back to his Lion, beaming.

"It's part of a song - well, sort of," he explained, and Blue purred happily in reply.

 _I thought it might be._

Lance grinned up at her. Being able to understand what Blue was saying - in words - had easily been one of the best moments in his life so far.

It had happened when he'd visited her on the Proselyt planet. His palms had been bandaged, but he'd been able to use the back of his hand to pat her front paw fondly, if awkwardly.

"Hey, Blue," he said. "I hope you haven't been too bored down here."

' _I am well. Do the burns pain you, my pilot?'_

"Nah, it's not too bad," he'd said, and then he'd stopped and just stared up at her, his eyes huge and jaw agape.

"Did you just - did I just -"

Blue had chuckled. She loved to see her pilot's wonder.

' _Yes.'_

Lance had stared at her for a few seconds, and then he'd thrown both his arms up high above his head, and a huge grin spread across his face. He'd jumped up and down a couple of times before punching the air and dancing around in a circle. Blue thought the phrase that best described it was 'completely geeking out'.

"YEAH! WHO-HOO! BLUE! YOU'RE AMAZING!"

Blue had laughed then, a rumbling sound that had shaken the ground. It was good to see her pilot's joy. Lance had stopped dancing around and tried to catch his breath.

"DOES THIS MEAN I'M TELEPATHIC?!"

 _Well - yes - I suppose you are, to some extent -_

"I"M A TELEPATHIC WATERBENDER! THIS IS **AWESOME**!"

Blue hadn't quite understood exactly what her pilot had referred to, but she assured him that he was indeed an amazing Guardian of the Water.

 _With time, you may even gain the ability to completely heal injuries - it is always a possibility - and you seem to have a natural talent for it - you did save the Red Paladin, after all -_

Lance had tried and failed to suppress his excitement at the thought that he might be able to not only water-bend, but also be an actual _healer_. He'd patted her front paws excitedly with his bandaged hands with happiness, and she had twitched her tail in amused concern.

 _Do not harm yourself, my pilot - I wish you to recover -_

"I'm fine! I'm great! I'm wonderful!" Lance had babbled, and she had purred down at him, completely reassured. Her pilot was in good spirits, and all would be well.

Even as Blue smiled at the memory, Lance waved goodbye to his Lion and headed towards Hunk's bay. The Paladins were going to meet in the control room and then, they would have that - what was it called?

 _Crystal Ceremony,_ Blue supplied, and Lance gave her an enthusiastic thumbs-up.

' _I'll see you soon, Blue,'_ he thought, and his Lion purred again in reply. She thought her Paladin had one of the greatest spirits she had ever encountered, and she knew that they would do great things together.

* * *

As Hunk brought his Lion in to land, he looked back at the passenger section with a grin.

"We're here," he said, and from her seat, Beyris smiled back at him. The mice chittered and chirped happily in her lap.

"Thanks for letting me ride in your Lion," she said. "I'm so glad Uncle said I could come with you-"

Hunk heard Yellow purr happily, and he patted the control panel in contentment.

"You're right, Yellow," he said, nodding. "It's good to be back."

He got out of his pilot's seat and went back to help Beyris with some of the harder to reach buckles. She chattered as he did so, and Hunk was reminded of Lance's younger siblings.

"Allura says the mice can show me around - and that I can help 'urelis with carrying things and-"

 _Yes, she is_ _ **very**_ _much like Lance's youngest sister,_ Yellow said, and Hunk chuckled. He wasn't entirely sure when he'd started hearing Yellow speak in words instead of thoughts, but it felt completely natural. Hunk gave his Lion a friendly pat on the paw before they left the bay.

 _Make sure she doesn't get lost,_ Yellow called after him, and Hunk took Beyris' hand as they started down the hallway. She took his hand and began skipping cheerfully, looking all around her with wide-eyed interest.

 _I won't,_ Hunk said back to his Lion through their mental connection. _Besides, she's a good kid_.

 _Yes_ …Yellow said, and his tone was fond, but also cautious. _But she is also quite mischievous…_

Hunk suddenly had a mental image of Beyris using the ventilation shafts as ways to startle Aurelis and explore the castle, and he had to hold back a chuckle that was both apprehensive and almost gleeful.

"Whatcha thinking 'bout?" Beyris asked, and Hunk looked down at her, still smiling.

"Nothing important," he said as Lance met up with them, and together, the three of them headed for the main control room, where Allura, Coran, and Shiro were waiting for them.

* * *

Pidge used Green's anti-gravity beam to bring most of the supplies and books Aurelis insisted he needed to bring with him. Once the healer and his 'luggage' was safely on board, she flew back to the Castle. Pidge glanced over her shoulder. Aurelis had fussed and double-checked his lists for what seemed to be an eternity, but she thought maybe it had been a stalling tactic.

 _Do you think Aurelis has ever been off his planet before now?_ she asked Green through their mental link.

 _I believe it is unlikely,_ Green answered. _It seems most members of his race rarely leave their home planet._

 _Well, I'm glad he's coming,_ Pidge told him. _And having Rayzor and Beyris with him will definitely help - I'm glad they wanted to come too -_

Green rumbled, but it was a thoughtful sound as they finally left the tunnels and headed into the open sky.

 _With or without fellow travelers, it takes great bravery to leave one's home_.

Pidge thumped her Lion's console board in what she meant to be a friendly fist-bump…or it would have been, if she could fist-bump a giant, ancient, robotic/magical lion.

 _Yeah, Green, I think you're right,_ she told him, and Green purred in a satisfied reply. The sound rattled through his entire frame.

From where he sat in the passenger section, Aurelis grabbed hold of the armrests and looked nervously around.

"Is it supposed to do that?" he called, and Pidge tapped her knuckles admonishingly against the dashboard, trying not to smile at Green's amused chuckle to the healer's reaction. Aurelis was an amazing healer, but when it came to flying, he reminded Pidge of that one doctor in Star Trek. The one who always said funny things and was incredibly brave and caring beneath his usual irritability. The guy the crew was always glad to have on their side in a crisis.

"Green's just saying hello," she called back, and she heard Green snort again with humor over their mental connection.

 _Be nice_ , she told him mentally. _You_ _ **did**_ _just call him brave._ She got the impression her Lion gave a good-natured rumble, and after that, the ride became markedly smoother.

Once Katie decided to stay with the team, it had become easier and easier to communicate with her Lion. A few days after they'd saved the Balmera, she'd been wrestling with a particularly frustrating piece of Altean tech, and Green had pointed out a different perspective she could try. She'd made the adjustment before realizing that they were communicating through words.

As she remembered that moment, Green seemed to read her mind, and his next words were immensely self-satisfied.

 _Your reaction was priceless,_ Green told her, and Pidge had to chuckle at the memory.

 _Didn't I fall off my chair?_

 _Yes. Yes you did,_ Green answered.

As the Castle came into sight, and they approached the landing bay, Green's mental voice took on a different tone. It was encouraging, steady, reassuring.

 _When I spoke of bravery, I wasn't just talking about the healer. You come from a very brave family, Katie. I know we will find them._

Pidge didn't allow herself to show vulnerability often, though now it was more out of habit than anything else. It had been absolutely necessary in maintaining her disguise at Garrison. So at Green's reassurance, she simply nodded her head and knew her Lion understood what she meant.

 _Thanks, Green. I sure hope so._

* * *

When Red's particle barrier came down, the Lion immediately lowered his head to nudge Keith's chest in a concerned manner.

 _My pilot_ , Red said through their mental connection, _are you well? Are you in pain? Do you know me?_

With an effort, Keith reached up and placed a hand on Red's paw, and he placed his forehead on Red's muzzle. It was harder than it normally would have been, given that he was still recovering. His jacket, along with his gloves, covered most of the cyber-splints Aurelis insisted he wear at all times until he judged that Keith had made a complete recovery - but Keith should have known Red wouldn't be mislead by such a simple disguise.

"I aaaaammm your Paaaaalaadinnn," he muttered, and he felt Red's frantic concern shift into something strangely like a relieved breath before asking again if he was in pain.

Mentally, Keith told his Lion that he was fine, that he'd be fully healed soon. Red huffed and nudged him again, almost like he thought Keith was pretending to be better condition than was strictly true.

 _You've done it before -_

 _Red! I'm fine! Seriously._

 _My pilot, I insist you speak truth to me._

 _I am fine. I just…want to go home._

Red nudged him again, and Keith felt like Red was checking him for any hidden injuries. He sighed, but decided it couldn't hurt for Red to reassure himself of Keith's health.

From where he waited at the entrance to the cave, Rayzor adjusted his grip on some of the books Aurelis had almost forgotten to bring. He'd been close friends with the healer since they were children, but occasionally - just occasionally - Rayzor felt the healer had far too many books. But of course, Aurelis had just said that one could _never_ have too many books - and anyway, if it was a matter of comparison, Rayzor _certainly_ had too many weapons.

Rayzor snorted to himself. _Too many weapons_. As if there was such a thing.

The Red Lion suddenly noticed his presence, and Rayzor found himself thinking that maybe he would have liked to be holding a weapon now instead of medical books. He had the uneasy feeling that Red would very much like to eat him. Keith seemed not to have noticed the way his Lion was regarding the Council Member, which only made Rayzor feel slightly more apprehensive.

He wasn't sure Keith would be able to talk Red out of doing something rash if Red didn't give his Paladin any kind of warning.

"Aurelis, if I die here because I was carrying your thirtieth edition medical journal collection instead of my swords, I will blame you for _eternity_ ," Rayzor said under his breath as the Red Paladin took a deep breath and squared his shoulders.

"Okay - come on, Red - let's get out of here," Keith said, but instead of lowering the entry ramp, Red raised his front paw and brought it around Keith, drawing him closer, a low growl emanating from his chest. Keith realized that his Lion was holding him protectively, intent on keeping him away from Rayzor. His Lion wasn't holding him very tightly, but Keith would _really_ have to try to get free, which really didn't appeal to the Red Paladin at the moment. All the same, Keith tried, but when he was unsuccessful, he felt a strange mixture of exasperation and fond understanding rise in his chest.

… _Red…_ he growled mentally to his Lion, and Red growled back in response, gesturing towards Rayzor with his head.

 _I am not taking_ _ **him**_ _with us._

Keith sighed at that as he replied, _Red, he's okay. He's with me._

Keith saw Rayzor shift his weight, looking towards the tunnel leading out of the cave, as if he was thinking about riding in Black instead. Remembering that Rayzor couldn't hear what was going on - it _was_ a telepathic communication, after all - Keith raised a hand in a 'just a second' kind of gesture. Then Red growled again, and if he'd been a normal lion, Keith was pretty sure that Red would have bared his teeth at Rayzor.

 _He hurt you,_ Red said. _I saw. I remember._

Keith swore, but he wasn't angry, just frustrated. _Dammit, Red, that was_ _ **ages**_ _ago -_

 _No, it wasn't!_ Red snarled, and it was a sound of mulish stubbornness born out of protectiveness and fear. _Anyway, I will not take any more chances with your safety. No one from this planet will_ _ **ever**_ _harm you again -_

Having a mental argument with his Lion really hadn't been anything Keith had trained or planned for. Despite himself, he almost laughed at the situation as he tried to convince Red that Rayzor was their ally.

 _Stars - Red - I was hallucinating! He's been on our side for ages - come on, we have to get back the Castle -_

 _NO. Not with him. I do not trust him._

Keith sighed, put his hand over his face, then winced. His arm and fingers were still stiff, and movements like that caused him pain if he wasn't careful. Red felt his pain, let out a concerned growl, and loosened his grip on his Paladin. Taking advantage of the moment, Keith took a few steps back, looking up into Red's eyes.

 _Red - come on. If you can't trust him, trust me._

 _My pilot - I -_

 _Red._ _ **Trust**_ _me._

Red growled, but he settled back and allowed both Keith and Rayzor to board. As Keith sat down in the pilot's seat, he heard his Lion speak to him once more, and Red's tone was insistent, concerned.

 _Do not exert yourself, my pilot. Let me do most of the work. Now that you are with me, I can get us back to the Castle._

Keith muttered to himself, but he sensed his Lion only wanted to make sure he didn't injure himself, which was only fair. It would do no one any good if he showed up at the Castle in a state that made Aurelis enforce a longer recovery time.

 _Okay. Go ahead._

Once they were flying, Red spoke to Keith once more.

 _I was worried._

Keith raised an eyebrow, and Red amended his words.

 _I almost burned through the tunnels to get to you._

Keith glanced back towards the passenger section where Rayzor sat. He was glad Rayzor hadn't heard that.

 _Yeah - I wanted to thank you for not doing that -_

Red snarled at Keith then, but it was in pain and anger born out of fear and a terrible sadness.

 _You must never go into such danger again! Not without me!_

Keith let out a breath that was both tired and understanding.

 _Red, you know I can't promise that._

Red didn't answer right away. They'd landed in their bay and Rayzor had left before Red spoke again.

 _I told you once I did not wish to lose you. I meant that I_ _ **must**_ _ **not**_ _lose you._

Keith had come to stand in front of his Lion, and he laid a hand on Red's front paw. This time, he did speak out loud.

"Red. You won't. I promise."

Keith heard Red give a small, bitter laugh that expressed far too much pain for something so quiet.

 _My previous Paladin said the same before he - he -_

Keith winced. He'd guessed what had happened to the previous Paladins, but it wasn't easy to realize he'd been right.

"Red…" Keith said, and he realized he was speaking only when he heard the words. "Red, just because someone's dead doesn't mean they're _gone_. There's a difference. Believe me."

His Lion remained silent for a long moment.

 _How can you be sure?_

Keith tried to find the words to explain what he meant, but they didn't come. So instead, he thought hard about his parents, about the last message they'd left for him. He tried to visualize it clearly so that Red could sense his meaning.

He thought he heard Red take a deep breath, and then Keith felt Red focus on a memory, sharing it with Keith, much the same way Keith had just shared his.

It was a memory of someone Red had cared for a long time ago. Someone strong and impulsive and fiercely, fiercely loyal. The Paladin who had died keeping Red away from Zarkon.

 _Ryang._

 _His name was Ryang._

The image faded from Keith's mind, and suddenly Red had wrapped his front paws around Keith once more, very gently and carefully, and Keith didn't try to move away from his Lion this time. They stayed like that for a few moments. Keith patted his Lion's muzzle, knowing that there was really nothing he could say.

 _I'm turning into Gold,_ Red rumbled to himself, and Keith had to laugh.

"No, I don't think you're _that_ much like Yellow," he told his Lion, and Red snorted.

 _I_ _ **am**_ _._ _ **Look**_ _at me. I'm_ _ **hugging**_ _you. That's Gold all over._

Keith had to grin at the image of the Yellow Lion enveloping Hunk in a hug. That image struck him as fitting. Hunk was really good at giving out hugs, and his Lion was probably no different.

Keith blinked.

"Wait - I thought his name was Yellow?"

 _He doesn't mind. He says it's the same color._

"Oh. Well, that's good. I've been calling him Yellow ever since day one-"

Red snorted and released Keith, pushing him towards the door with his nose.

 _You must go. The others are waiting for you._

"That's okay," Keith said, heading for the bay door, feeling an usually wide grin cross his face. "I'll just tell them I'm late because you were _hugging_ me - you big old _softie_ \- "

Red growled, but it was a fond sound, if also slightly threatening.

 _Don't make me lick your hair. It needs grooming._

Keith almost laughed again, but Red sounded serious, so Keith decided discretion was the better part of valor in this case and hurried out of the bay.

* * *

When Keith left the bay, he found Rayzor standing some ways down the corridor, clearly waiting for him. The Council Member fell into step beside Keith, and together, they headed towards the main control room.

"I thought you'd gone there already," Keith said. Rayzor's clawed fingers tightened on the books he held before he answered.

"I wasn't completely certain of the way," he said. "And - and I wanted to apologize to you. Properly."

Keith almost stumbled, looking back at the Council Member in confusion. Their footsteps slowed, and they came to a full stop in the middle of the hallway.

"Uh - Rayzor - I don't - " Keith began, but Rayzor shook his head, and Keith stopped speaking.

The Council Member's posture was tense, almost awkward, but his words were clear, carefully articulated.

"I know you don't remember some - or most - of what happened after we found you in the Cave of Ice - but you feared me, and for good reason."

Keith looked surprised and a little confused, but Rayzor continued, intent on saying the words he'd meant to say for weeks now.

"I mistreated you - badly - when we first met - and - and I wanted to apologize - for causing you pain."

Rayzor looked at Keith, and then away again.

"You saved my niece at great cost to yourself. I wanted - to thank you - and to apologize for - misjudging you so completely the first time we met."

Keith's answer surprised him.

"Rayzor - it's in the past. I - uh - um - dammit, I suck at this - "

Rayzor looked at Keith. The Red Paladin was scratching his head and seeming to search for words, biting his lip.

"Rayzor, that was ages ago - and - uh - you're obviously our friend now - so - "

Rayzor's eyebrows shot up in surprise. "Friend?"

Keith looked at him askance. "Well…yeah…" he said, as if it were obvious. "Rayzor, you came to find us after we'd been taken by the Druids. The _Druids_. _Hag-gar_."

Keith articulated the words as if they showed something obvious. Rayzor nodded, still feeling a little confused.

"We're allies. It's what allies d-"

Keith almost laughed when he replied. "No, Rayzor, _allies_ work together to defeat a common enemy - when and if they have to. You flew into _Galra space_ with nothing but a _shuttle_ and helped guide Black back to your planet - _and_ from what Pidge tells me, you cut off four of Jenick's fingers - "

Rayzor shook his head stubbornly. "That was - Keith - I still - "

Keith shook his head. "Rayzor, it's in the past. You've changed. I've changed. Forget about it."

A different person might have been offended by the way Keith said 'It's okay,', but Rayzor's shoulders relaxed. He nodded once at Keith, and then they both turned and kept walking down the halls of the Altean castle, side by side.

"So…" Keith said, glancing at the books Rayzor was carrying. "I see that Aurelis almost forgot some of his - what are those?"

"Medical books."

Keith smirked as they rounded a corner and headed down the last full corridor. "They got anything about Druids in there?"

Rayzor shrugged, but when he glanced down at Keith when he spoke, his look was half-humorous.

"Doubtful. Then again, it's not like we can predict anything you do, so - "

Keith rolled his eyes. "Okay, _now_ you're stereotyping me. I'm _totally_ predictable."

"Because you're always unpredicable?"

"Yes. I'm predictably unpredictable. It's a gift."

"Doesn't Lance call it - "

"Red Shirt Syndrome, yeah," Keith said. "It's _really_ annoying when he's right-"

Rayzor saw Pidge in the corridor ahead of them but didn't point it out to Keith. The Red Paladin realized that she had heard him when she turned and waved at them, shouting, "HA! You just said that Lance was RIGHT about something!"

"Thanks, _ally_ ," Keith muttered, and Rayzor permitted himself a very satisfied half-smile as he responded.

"What else are _friends_ for?"

"I don't know. Go find someone social and ask them," Keith said immediately, and he could have sworn Rayzor snorted once in laughter just as they reached Pidge.

As they reached the main control room, Pidge looked back up at Rayzor and said, her eyes calculating, "You know, you still have to tell us how you got our bayards back - we've been taking bets on how you managed that."

Keith saw Rayzor blink down at her, as the Green Paladin nodded sagely and said, "I'm betting that you used some kind of portal to get inside a Galra vault-"

Rayzor opened his mouth to answer, but the door to the main control room opened, and Coran poked his head out, beaming cheerfully in greeting.

"Aha! Finally, all of you are here! Come, come, let's get started!"

Before the Paladins started the mind meld, Coran told them that it would be like communicating with their Lions.

"But I _talk_ to Blue now," Lance said, reaching up and readjusting the glowing Altean device on his forehead. "Does that mean we're going to be talking?"

"Not in words," Coran said. "More like - you'll get impressions, or insights into the others' minds."

Pidge's forehead wrinkled in slight confusion. "So…like _before_ we started talking to our Lions."

Coran beamed. "Exactly!"

Hunk sighed. "Well, okay. I guess - no, no actually, that doesn't make a ton of sense - but okay."

Keith wished he could readjust the device on his head, but his fingers were too sore from flying Red up to the Castle, and he shifted in his seat. He was _really_ looking forward to being back to normal.

"Whatever, guys. Let's just do this, okay?"

Shiro said nothing, but he nodded at Coran, and then they began.


	5. Memories

Hunk remembered his first day at Garrison.

He was nervous - he was always nervous when it came to meeting new people - or going to new places - or starting at a new school. His parents had moved a lot, so Hunk had always been the new kid.

You know. The one everyone liked to pick on.

 _The third-year - a tall, blond boy whose face seemed set into a perpetual scowl - glared at Hunk in irritation._

" _Watch where you're going, big guy!"_

 _Hunk stammered an apology, but it seemed like history was about to repeat itself. He was the new kid, and that meant he was an easy target for bullies._

 _He hadn't meant to bump into the group of third years - it had been an accident. He'd gotten turned around on his way to class, and he'd rounded a corner without seeing the other guys coming._

 _Now his books lay scattered on the ground, and one of the guys at the blond kid's shoulders placed a heavy boot on them, sneering at Hunk in a 'What are you going to do about it?' kind of way._

 _Someone came up behind Hunk, and Hunk flinched, thinking it was a teacher or someone these guys knew, someone who'd laugh at how they'd made the new guy cry on his first day._

" _Hey, what's going on?"_

 _The newcomer - a tall, skinny kid with dark skin and hair - looked between the group of third years and Hunk, and he seemed to take in the situation immediately._

 _Hunk braced himself for the usual story. This guy wouldn't care - he'd just turn away, or even worse, he'd just laugh too, and then Hunk would cry, and the story would go all around the school and Hunk would never hear the end of it._

 _Instead, the newcomer leaned to one side, against the lockers, putting his hands into his jacket pockets. When he spoke, it was in an easy tone, almost as if he were asking Hunk what his favorite sports team was._

" _Oh, I get it. These guys are playing it tough again, huh?"_

 _Hunk blinked. This was a new reaction._

" _Back off, McClain," the guy with the boots snarled._

 _McClain laughed at him and turned his attention back to Hunk._

" _They do this every time someone new arrives," he said conversationally, as if he were speaking about the weather. "Personally, I think they're compensating for a lack of talent…or brains…or something. Anyway, it's pretty lame."_

 _Hunk glanced back at the three guys and back again at McClain. He wasn't sure if the guy was being cocky, or just trying to antagonize the third-years into starting trouble._

" _I don't -" Hunk began, but then more people came around the corner, and the third years had to break apart and move on down the hall or be run into by the other students._

 _Hunk didn't really see the dark haired kid move, but suddenly, he was by Hunk's side and handing him back his books._

" _Sorry about that," McClain said. "They're just jerks. Don't take it personally."_

 _Hunk looked at him, unsure of what to say._

" _Uh - thanks, McClain."_

 _McClain waved a hand. "Nononono, everybody calls me McClain. I've got like, a million siblings. My name's Lance."_

 _Hunk nodded, and they started down the hall together. "Uh - okay - Lance. I'm - Hunk. Or, people call me Hunk, anyway -"_

" _Hunk, huh? Don't think I've heard that one before - "_

" _I know, it's kinda - "_

" _I like it!"_

 _Hunk looked back at Lance to see if he was making fun of him, but Lance wasn't smirking or anything like that._

"… _you…do?" Hunk asked. Lance nodded._

" _It's cool! You know, like 'that guy's a hunk'! Only, you know, it's your nickname."_

 _Hunk rubbed the back of his neck and looked down at Lance. "I have to admit, I never thought of it that way - "_

 _But Lance was grinning. "Trust me, Hunk, it's perfect - I wish I could get a nickname like that - "_

 _Lance glanced at Hunk's class schedule and immediately brightened. "Oh, you have Professor Montgomery for physics too! Hey, you want to study together in the library during free period? I suck at physics - but I'm okay at math -"_

 _Despite himself, Hunk laughed at how Lance's energy seemed absolutely boundless._

" _Sure," he said, because Lance seemed genuinely nice, and because he was the first person who hadn't laughed at his name._

 _They passed a few more students in the hall, and Lance excitedly elbowed Hunk in the side as someone walked past._

" _Hunk - look! It's Shirogane!"_

 _Hunk stopped and looked back over his shoulder at the young man who had just walked past._

" _You don't mean - "_

 _But Lance was nodding emphatically. "Yeah - THE Shirogane - the one who's going to pilot the Kereberos mission!"_

 _Hunk automatically tried to make himself smaller. Lance looked at him strangely._

" _What's up, dude? You look like - "_

 _Hunk shook his head frantically. "Uh - I'm just - nervous - you know - I'm afraid he'd think I'm stupid - or something -"_

 _Lance shook his head. "Nah, man, Shiro's cool. So is Matt - that was the guy with the glasses - but…that guy with the mullet…_ _ **Keith**_ _…"_

 _He glowered for a second, and Hunk had to wonder at how serious Lance looked in that moment._

"… _is…?" Hunk asked, and jumped when Lance proclaimed, in dramatic terms, "MY RIVAL!"_

" _Do people_ _ **have**_ _rivals in real life?" Hunk asked, and Lance nodded vigorously. "Heck yeah they do," he said, jutting his chin out stubbornly. "That guy is always trying to one up me!"_

The memory shifted, blurred, became another.

 _The Kereberos memorial service had just ended, and Hunk and Lance walked slowly back to the dorms._

" _I can't believe it," Hunk said. Lance, uncharacteristically, was silent._

 _Hunk continued, his voice soft and sad. "It's just…I know you're 'rivals' with him and all…but shouldn't we try to do something? He doesn't have any family - and Shiro - Shiro and Matt are- "_

 _Lance nodded, once, decisively. "Yeah, you're right," he said. "We should. Maybe - uh - maybe he'd like some company. Let's ask Iverson when Keith's getting back from leave."_

The memory shifted, blurred, and -

 _Hunk and Lance were in their barracks, and Lance had just spun on his chair to face Hunk._

" _Dropped out?!" Lance asked, his face shocked. "What could that mean? Kogane is - was - no -_ _ **is**_ _\- the best pilot in our class!"_

 _Hunk spread his hands wide. He felt just as confused as his friend. "When I asked him, Iverson said he didn't know why Kogane left. Or at least, he says he doesn't know…"_

 _Lance looked back at Hunk, confused. "Are you - are you saying you think that Iverson didn't want us to know where Kogane went?"_

 _Hunk shrugged. "I don't know, man. But something doesn't feel right about this. I don't think Iverson knows where Keith went, and he doesn't want to admit it. Losing two prodigy pilots in less than a month? Not great for his record, you know?"_

 _Hunk shifted his weight from one foot to the other. "But there is some good news…"_

 _Lance looked back at Hunk. "Hey, on a day like today, I'll take any good news I can get. What is it?"_

 _Hunk held out a list of names. The name at the bottom of the page said 'Lance McClain'._

" _You made fighter pilot, bro."_

 _Lance took the list and stared at it, speechless for a few seconds. Then he whooped and cheered and did everything but a handstand to express his excitement._

" _Hunk - I want you on my team!" he shouted, and Hunk blinked._

" _But - but Lance - I get motion-sick - uh - do you really want me to be your -"_

 _Hunk knew his friend had wanted to be a fighter pilot ever since he'd started at Garrison. He didn't want to hurt Lance's scores by -_

 _But then Lance reached an arm around Hunk in a one-armed hug. "Of course, man! You're the best engineer I know - come on, whadda say? I can call you Scotty…"_

 _Hunk sighed, knowing he'd say yes even as he complained, "But I'm not Scottish-"_

 _Lance laughed, and Hunk joined in. He knew it wouldn't be easy to be an engineer, and that it was going to take a lot of hard work, but it would be worth it._

* * *

Lance remembered playing on the beach with his family.

" _Sophia - come back here!" he shouted, racing after a girl with short, dark hair tied back into a ponytail. She was short, but she was fast._

 _He caught her just as she reached the edge of the water, and she squealed in both delight and disappointment as he carried her back towards the sandcastles._

" _Laaaaaance," she complained, "come on! I can swim just fine -"_

" _Not in the ocean you can't," he said. "Heck, I have trouble sometimes - and I'm_ _ **way**_ _bigger and stronger than you!"_

 _She stuck her lip out, and he decided that unless he did something, she'd start crying or make another break for the water. They'd been in the middle of constructing a sand-castle when Sophia had decided to sprint for the water, and Lance thought that he had an idea that would appeal to his sister's destructive impulses._

" _ROOOOOAR! I'M GODZILLA!" he said, and he brought one foot down in exaggerated slow motion towards a leaning tower of their sand-castle._

" _AAAAHHH!" Sophia shrieked. Grinning in delight, she grabbed a pail and a shovel and starting to throw sand at Lance's face. He sputtered and fell backwards onto the flat sand of the beach._

" _Sophia - what the - sand?!_ _ **Really**_ _?! You're supposed to be the other monster!"_

 _Sophia dropped the bucket and shovel and jumped to her feet immediately. She took on a fighting stance, her face fierce and determined._

" _I'm MOTHRA!" she proclaimed, raising her arms out from her sides like a bat and whirring around like an airplance. "HISSS!"_

 _Lance wasn't sure if moths hissed, but then again, he wasn't sure lizards could grow to the size of sky-scrapers either._

 _They made sure they only destroyed their own sandcastle when they played Godzilla v. Mothra. It wouldn't have been fair to the other kids to wreck their sandcastles too._

The memory blurred, become another.

 _He stood in the hallway, staring at the posted test results, his fists clenched at his sides._

 _He hadn't made it to the fighter pilot class. He'd only managed to make cargo pilot._

 _What would he tell his family? His other siblings had all made fighter pilot class on their first try._

 _He wished he could retake the test, or do something to upgrade to fighter pilot…but there just wasn't anything he could do. He'd have to wait until next year._

 _The thought felt physically painful, and Lance wished he could do something - anything - to change this disappointment, this hurt inside him to something else, anything else._

 _The bell rang, and he realized he was going to be late to class unless he started heading there now. He turned and walked slowly away down the hall, thinking over what he could do._

 _Could he lie to his family when he went home for break? No, he couldn't. That wouldn't be right. Maybe they'd understand. It's not like they wanted him to be perfect or anything - but he'd been just so excited - it wasn't going to be easy to tell them this…_

" _Hey! Watch where you're going, big guy!"_

 _Lance heard a familiar voice shout out in what sounded like an annoyed yell, and he snapped out of his thoughts to see the new guy standing in the hallway, his books on the floor and a couple of third-years looking belligerent._

" _Oh,_ _ **man**_ _," Lance said to himself as he kept walking forward. "These guys again."_

 _He pushed aside his feelings of disappointment. It wasn't like he was a complete failure at life just because he'd start as a cargo pilot. He didn't usually go looking for trouble, but it just wasn't in his nature to ignore something like this._

 _And anyway - whether or not he was a cargo pilot or a fighter pilot - Lance McClain could still do something about these guys._

 _He straightened his shoulders and took on a more confident air as he approached the group, raising his voice as he called out, "Hey there. What's going on?"_

* * *

Pidge wasn't surprised when she remembered the day she'd spied on Matt's movie night.

" _It's a guy movie, Katie," Matt said. She'd raised a fist and threatened to hit him where it hurt._

" _Okay, okay," he amended hastily, "It's a guy movie_ _ **night**_ _."_

 _She lowered her fist and nodded. "See, you could have just said that, Matt. I'm fine with that. Just don't think I can't handle violence because I'm a_ _ **girl**_ _\- "_

 _Matt rolled his eyes as he answered. "Believe me, Katie, I_ _ **know**_ _that you could hand most guys their ass in a fight - in strategy, anyway - "_

" _Aw, bro, stop, I'm blushing. Seriously, though, what are you going to watch?"_

" _Gladiator."_

" _Oh, that's a good movie - a classic!"_

" _I know, right?!"_

" _-though the villain's really creepy- and I mean -_ _ **quite**_ _the accomplished jackass - "_

 _Matt made a retching sound and pretended to throw up. He actually did go slightly green. "No need to tell me - talk about_ _ **awkward**_ _\- "_

 _Katie had made a disgusted face in agreement and gone back to typing away on her laptop. She only paused long enough to pull her hair back into a ponytail._

" _Have fun," she said, and Matt gave her a thumbs-up as he left her to her work._

 _A short time later, she decided it couldn't hurt if she listened in to the guys as they watched the movie. Matt had never said she couldn't_ _ **listen**_ _at the top of the stairs - and anyway, it would only be for a few minutes. She was just curious._

 _She tiptoed to the top of the stairs and heard Shiro's friend say, in a very sincere voice,_

" _\- and that's why I don't do hugs."_

 _Oh. They were on_ _ **that**_ _part._

 _Katie winced. She never had liked that death scene. Maybe it was a good thing that she hadn't gone downstairs after all._

 _Matt sounded completely flummoxed when he spoke. "Keith - that's like - the worst_ _ **possible**_ _scenario_ _ **ever**_ _\- in the_ _ **history**_ _of mankind - are you serious?! You don't do hugs because of this_ _ **one**_ _scene?!"_

 _Shiro's voice sounded then, amused. "He's joking - I think. You_ _ **are**_ _joking, right, Keith? I didn't scar you for life by showing this movie to you when you were twelve…right? Please say no - I'm going to hate myself otherwise-"_

 _Oh yeah - the friend's name was Keith._

 _Keith snorted and there was the sound of a pillow hitting something - probably Shiro. Shiro laughed, and Keith spoke again._

" _Come_ _ **on**_ _, Shiro - I don't scare that easy - I'm just saying, it's a tactical disadvantage in this situation - I mean, come on! He's telling the guy he's going to disband the EMPIRE and then he thinks the Prince wants a HUG? How stupid is this guy?!"_

" _I think the word you're looking to describe this scene is 'emotional', Keith," Shiro said, and Katie heard Keith scoff._

" _Emotion is over-rated," he said, and then Matt told both of them to quiet down, because Maximus was about to hand some guards their asses, and Katie decided she'd heard enough._

 _She smiled to herself as she tiptoed back to her room and resumed her coding._

 _She liked Matt's friends. Maybe she could meet them some time._

The next memory didn't surprise Katie either. It was the day she and her mother had been told that the Kereberos mission had failed. They'd been brought to Garrison, into the officers' lounge, and then Iverson had come in and told them that the shuttle was…gone…crashed…

" _\- due to pilot error," the man had said. "- a terrible tragedy - we wanted you to know before the media announced it later this week - we're so sorry for your loss -"_

 _Katie held her mother as she cried, but Katie didn't cry at all. She was too dumbfounded to speak._

 _The pilot had been a prodigy. Her father and brother had trusted him implicitly. This just didn't make any sense -_

 _Suddenly, in a room further down the hall, a chair crashed through the window, and Iverson jumped in his seat._

" _KOGANE!" someone bellowed through the broken window. "COME BACK HERE!"_

 _A few seconds later, a familiar young man rushed through the door to the officer's lounge, his face set into a snarl of rage and fury, almost corpse-white. Even as the dark-haired young man launched himself at the Commander, four nearby officers caught hold of him, two holding each arm. Even with their intervention, the Commander almost lost his eyes._

 _\- Katie thought to herself that if she hadn't been so shell-shocked at the news of the crash, she might have helped Kogane out with that -_

" _YOU'RE A LIAR!" Kogane screamed at Iverson, and it was all the men holding him could do to keep him from breaking free._

" _That's enough," the Commander said, but Kogane wouldn't stop screaming at him._

" _HE WOULD NEVER DO THAT -_ _ **NEVER**_ _\- YOU'RE HIDING SOMETHING - "_

" _ **Kogane**_ _." Iverson said, his voice going flat and harsh. "I know you're upset - but -"_

 _Kogane was shaking with fury, his teeth bared._

" _He would **never** do that_ _\- you're_ _ **lying**_ _\- "_

" _Kogane._ _ **Enough**_ _."_

" _\- you're making my brother the scapegoat of the_ _ **century**_ _just to save your own ass -"_

 _When Iverson spoke again, it was almost an animal growl._

" _Kogane, accept it. Takashi Shirogane intentionally went off-course, and the shuttle crashed as a direct result of his hubris-"_

 _Kogane was still trying to break free, and he wouldn't stop glaring at Iverson, his eyes hard and glittering with rage and_ _something else._

" _-you're a - fucking -_ _ **liar**_ _-"_

" _Officers, escort Kogane off Garrison property," Commander Iverson said, his voice now calm, composed, and completely cold. "I don't want to see him here again."_

 _The officers pulled Kogane away, out of the room, and as they disappeared, Katie heard him scream again, almost incomprehensible with rage and pain._

 _She bit her lip at the sound. She knew exactly how he felt._

 _How could the mission have failed? It had been planned for_ _ **years**_ _. The trajectory alone had been planned and coordinated over the course of months. The pilot had been a prodigy - and what's more, he_ _ **never**_ _would have endangered his team needlessly._

 _\- pilot error - that had to be an excuse - it couldn't be what really happened - it just didn't make any sense -_

 _Her mother was still shaking and crying, and Katie forced herself to keep her face completely still as she held her mother close. She was going to get into this office tonight, to investigate. If she acted like Kogane - if she gave vent to the fury and disbelief raging inside her - she wouldn't have any chance of sneaking in here later._

 _So even though she wanted to break every piece of furniture in the room, even though she wanted to leap at the man lying to her face and claw out his eyes, she kept her face as impassive as stone and mentally mapped out the best air vent to use as an access route that evening._

* * *

Keith knew what his first memory would be, and he braced himself for it. All the same, it wasn't any easier to see again.

 _It was a school day. He was going to take the bus for the first time._

 _His parents had left for work. They told him to lock the door behind him, that they'd see him that evening._

 _He'd waved goodbye through the window, then realized he'd forgotten his backpack upstairs._

 _He went up to his room, grabbed his backpack off the floor._

 _As he did, he heard a crash, a horrible shriek of metal, looked out of his bedroom window and saw the fiery wreckage of what had been their car._

 _He thought it had to be a dream, that it couldn't have actually happened. He wanted to run back down the stairs, open the front door, to run outside, but he only made it to the top of the stairs before all his energy left him._

 _There were sirens outside. Sirens, and voices, and Keith just sat down._

 _He was scared. Everything was too loud, happening too fast._

 _Then someone threw open the front door, and a boy Keith knew from school dashed into the living room, looking all around the first floor, his dark grey eyes wild, his black hair completely disheveled. He was calling Keith's name, and he sounded frantic._

 _It took Keith a second to recognize the boy. It was Shiro. Shiro from next door._

 _Keith couldn't answer. He wanted to, but his voice wouldn't come._

 _Shiro was his friend, even though he was twelve and Keith was six. They always hung out together after school. Shiro's grandparents lived next door, and they had come over multiple times - they'd said - they said - that Keith was practically family -_

 _Even as Keith watched, still unable to say anything, he saw his friend sprint down the hallway that led to the kitchen, shouting Keith's name in fear and desperate terror._

 _Keith could only stare dully down towards the foot of the stairs. Why was Shiro calling for_ _ **him**_ _?_

 _Keith was fine. But his parents - his parents were - were -_

 _A few seconds later, Keith heard Shiro call out again, this time from the kitchen._

" _KEITH! COME ON - PLEASE! ANSWER ME!"_

 _Shiro was calling for him. Keith wanted to answer, but he just couldn't. All Keith could do was sit down and wrap his arms around his legs and rock back and forth, telling himself that this had to be a dream, that it couldn't be real._

 _Shiro came into sight again, skidding to a stop at the bottom of the stairs that led to the second floor of the house. He bent over, gasping, holding onto the handrail with one hand, the other one clutching at his hair. His eyes were half-closed, and he was saying something to himself, and it took Keith a second to understand the words._

" _He took the bus," Shiro panted, and it sounded like a prayer. "He-took-the-bus-he-took-the-bus-he-wasn't-in-the-car-please-please-_ _ **please**_ _-"_

 _Finally, Keith was able to talk._

"… _Shiro…?"_

 _Shiro's head came up so fast, Keith thought he'd hurt his neck._

" _ **Keith**_ _!"_

 _His friend made it up the stairs faster than should have been humanly possible, and Keith felt only dazed relief at not being alone in the house._

"… _Shiro…I…saw…"_

" _Keith - come on - let's go to my house - "_

"… _but…what about…"_

" _We'll take care of that later, okay? We'll take care of everything - later. Come on."_

 _But Keith couldn't move. He felt Shiro pick him up and carry him piggy-back down the stairs. They went out the back door, across the yard._

"… _I thought you…had a test today…" Keith said, and he felt Shiro huff once, contemptuously, as if his test score was the last thing on his mind right now._

" _It can wait," he said, and Keith felt only relief at knowing that Shiro wasn't going to leave him alone._

Keith hadn't thought about that day for years, and he was glad when the memory changed into something else - his first official day at the Garrison.

" _You'll be rooming with your brother," the officer had told him. "I hope that won't be a problem."_

" _No, sir," Keith answered. "It won't be."_

 _The officer had snorted. "We'll see. Usually siblings are harder to get along with than other classmates - but Shirogane insisted, and Iverson thought it was worth trying to accommodate his wishes."_

 _Keith tried not to smirk. His adoptive brother was a prodigy pilot, even at the age of seventeen._

" _You'll have to respect Shirogane's schedule," the officer had said. "He's destined for great things. Don't drag him down."_

 _Keith wanted to bristle at that, but he refrained from letting the officer see. No sense in starting a fight he couldn't finish._

" _Yes, sir," he growled. "- uh, I mean, no, sir. I won't."_

 _The officer left Keith alone after that to unpack. It didn't take Keith very long._

 _The evening, Shiro saw that Keith headed straight for bed at eight o'clock sharp and asked him what the hell was wrong with him._

" _Uh…" Keith said, unsure of how to talk about what had happened without sounding like a child. Shiro seemed to read his mind and rolled his eyes._

" _Let me guess. The officer told you 'not to drag me down' and to 'respect my schedule', right?"_

"… _yeah, pretty much."_

 _Shiro tapped his fingers on his desk, his eyes narrowing into a scowl._

" _Well, that phrasing_ _ **sucked**_ _."_

 _Keith wanted to chuckle, but he wasn't sure he should. Shiro sighed and rubbed the spot between his eyes with his right hand._

" _Look, Keith - you don't drag me down. You never have. He should never have said that. They're just trying to put the fear of God in you to make sure you don't step out of line because there's a lot of work I have to do, and they think they need to control every factor of my life. Anyway, I'm perfectly capable of knowing my limits."_

 _Keith shrugged. "Okay."_

 _Shiro hadn't seen the gesture, because he'd been looking in his desk for something . "…and it's Friday…so…"_

 _Keith had spread his hands wide. "…aren't you going to go hang out with your friends?"_

 _Shiro had snorted. "Friends? Keith, I'm a 'prodigy pilot' at seventeen. Garrison may like me, but the other students sure as hell don't."_

 _Keith's forehead wrinkled. "That's_ _ **stupid**_ _."_

 _Shiro had tossed him a DVD case. "No, that's jealousy and politics. It sucks, but that's how life works sometimes."_

 _Keith snorted. "I still think it's stupid."_

 _Shiro told him to move over, and Keith made room for him on the couch. Shiro brought over his laptop and adjusted it so they could both see the screen._

" _Okay," he said once they were settled, "You've_ _ **got**_ _to see this show. It's pretty much one of the best shows ever."_

 _Keith looked with interest at the cover. "Looks cool."_

 _Shiro nodded, bringing up the first episode. "It is. It_ _ **really**_ _is."_

* * *

Shiro had braced himself for something unpleasant, but to his surprise, the first memory that came to his mind was something from long, long ago, from before Kerberos.

 _He was with his grandparents, and they were at a park. He was young - only about ten years old - and it was springtime. Other families were there, and his grandparents had told him that it was important to get to know as many people as he could._

" _You are a student at Garrison now," they'd told him. "These people must come to know your name."_

 _He looked around him, wondering where to start. There were just so many people here - and even though he was the best in his class, he didn't know how to just start_ _ **talking**_ _to someone -_

 _Someone short cannonballed into him, and Shiro and the unknown person both went sprawling._

" _Ow…" he muttered, shaking his head and rolling over, getting back to his feet. Nearby, a kid with messy black hair - about four years old - was rolling onto his back, eyes wide and somewhat startled._

" _Sorry!" the kid said, looking up at Shiro. " - I - uh - didn't see you there."_

 _Shiro offered his right hand to the kid, and the boy took it and jumped up with a speed that startled Shiro._

" _It's okay," Shiro said. "Damn, you're fast - uh - uh-oh - I mean -_ _ **dang**_ _, you're fast…uh…"_

 _But the kid just looked at him strangely. "I've heard that word before," he said. "It's not like it's 'shit' or anything really bad like that - "_

" _Sssh!" Shiro glanced back nervously towards his grandparents, but thankfully they seemed to have missed the entire exchange. The younger boy saw what was going on and nodded wisely, as if he knew the feeling._

" _Well," he said, "at least my mom didn't - "_

" _Keith! Keith Kogane - there you are - oh stars, you're_ _ **fast**_ _," a woman said, coming up behind Keith, who jumped and turned to look back up at her._

" _I'm not swearing!" he said immediately, and she quirked an eyebrow down at him._

" _ **Why**_ _do I doubt you?" she asked, but she was half-smiling._

" _Mae?" someone called, and she turned back to wave at a man, who joined her a moment later._

" _Success!" she said proudly, extending an arm out to gesture at Keith. "I have located our progeny!"_

" _Good," the man said. "I thought I'd have to assemble a search party for a minute there - it's like he's got wings or something - "_

" _I don't run_ _ **that**_ _fast," Keith said, and as his mother sighed and glanced to the heavens, muttering 'witness me' dramatically under her breath, he looked up at his father. "Dad! Dad, I just met someone!"_

 _The man looked at Shiro and nodded, extending a hand. "I see. And this young man's name is…?"_

 _Shiro took the offered hand and shook it gravely. "Shirogane , sir. Takashi Shirogane. It's a pleasure to meet you."_

 _The woman - Mae - smiled at Shiro and shook his hand in turn. "I'm Mae. Mae Kogane. This is my husband, Kenneth - and our son, Keith."_

 _Shiro nodded politely, unsure of what to do next. His grandparents were still talking to the Commander, and he didn't want to interrupt them._

 _But then another family came towards them, and Mae introduced Shiro to the Holt family. Soon Shiro's grandparents and the Commander started speaking to the other adults._

 _Shiro and Matt and Keith started talking about what they wanted to be someday._

" _A fighter pilot!" Keith said immediately._

" _A scientist," Matt said, and then the two boys turned to Shiro._

" _What do you want to be, Shiro?" Keith asked._

 _Shiro had known his answer for years._

" _I want to be a pilot - and not just any pilot - I want to be a pilot on a_ _ **space**_ _mission. I want to explore the stars."_

Shiro had to smile at the memory. It wasn't a bad one, all things considered. Then another one presented itself.

 _He was seventeen. His grandparents had passed away less than a year ago, and Keith had come to Garrison only a few weeks before._

 _Shiro had heard Jeremiah Iverson tell Keith that he was only there because of Shiro's influence. Coming from the nephew of a Commander, that was pretty ironic, but then again, Jeremiah wasn't renowned for his brilliance._

" _You're nothing special," the boy had sneered. "You're just here because you know the right people-"_

 _Shiro had gripped hold of Jeremiah's collar and spun him around._

" _Sorry. You were saying something?" he asked, and Jeremiah gulped when he looked into Shiro's eyes. Then the blond boy rallied, twisting away from Shiro's grip._

" _It's true!" Jeremiah said. "He's just - he's just here because the Commander wants his precious poster boy to be happy - "_

 _Shiro looked at Keith, and Keith didn't meet his brother's eyes. A muscle twitched in Shiro's jaw, and he turned sharply on his heel._

" _Follow," he said, and Keith did. "You too, Cadet," Shiro snapped back over his shoulder, and because Shiro had the higher rank, Jeremiah had to comply._

 _They went to the flying simulator. Shiro programmed it for the most advanced level permitted for first year cadets._

" _Cadet Kogane," Shiro said, his voice perfectly even. "Show him what you can do."_

 _A short time later, Keith completed the simulations for first, second, and third year levels with the highest scores ever recorded._

 _Shiro nodded at Keith. "Dismissed, Cadet."_

 _Keith turned to leave, and Jeremiah headed for the door._

" _Not you," Shiro said. He saw Keith attempt to hide a smirk as he left._

 _Shiro and Jeremiah were alone in the simulator room now, and Shiro pointed at the machine._

" _Do you know who held the highest score for those levels before today?" Shiro asked._

 _Jeremiah shook his head. "No, sir."_

 _Shiro folded his arms and stared directly at the young man. "I did."_

 _Jeremiah started at him, mouth agape. Shiro stared levelly back at him._

" _Still think he's here just because of me?"_

" _What - how - "_

" _It's called hard work and talent, Cadet. If you had more than an ounce of sense, you'd see that Cadet Kogane is fully capable in his own right. He just won't say as much. So take my advice, and stop pretending that you're the hottest thing in Garrison just because you feel entitled to a reputation."_

 _Jeremiah spluttered, going red. "You - you can't talk to me like that - I'm - "_

 _Shiro just looked at him, and the cadet's protests died away._

" _You're_ _ **what**_ _, Cadet?" Shiro asked. His tone was flat, even, but not at all demeaning._

 _It was a question that Jeremiah didn't know how to answer. He looked down at the floor, his ears going red. When Shiro spoke again, he didn't shout or raise his voice._

" _Learn this now. Names mean nothing. Talent only gets you so far. In the end, it comes down to how hard you're willing to work in order to achieve your goals, and how you treat people on the way."_

 _Jeremiah looked back up at Shiro again, and his face had gone pale._

" _Sir-"_

 _Shiro held up a hand, and Jeremiah went quiet again._

" _This isn't a classroom lesson, and this isn't something you'll be quizzed on. But it sure as hell should be something you think about before you embarrass yourself further. Dismissed."_

 _Jeremiah snapped off a textbook perfect salute and left the room._

Shiro hadn't remembered that day at all. He didn't remember much of his time before Kereberos, but he did know that his grandparents had adopted Keith after the car accident. They had grown up together, and that kind of history wasn't something you could just erase.

Haggar had tried - but she hadn't been able to _\- oh no - oh shit -_

Fragments of memories - bad memories, terrifying memories - started to flicker at the corners of Shiro's mind.

 _Yellow eyes - darkness - pain - the arena - Haggar's voice telling him that he would never escape her - that he was nothing without the Galra Empire -_

Shiro clenched his jaw and snarled at the images, pushing them away from him.

 _ **No**_ _. She didn't have a hold on him anymore. He wasn't her weapon._

Then Shiro heard Black inside his mind, telling him that it was all right, that she was here to help.

 _My pilot, all is well. You are safe. The others are safe. These memories are only shadows. They have no power over you. You must trust me._

Shiro did trust his Lion - he just really had hoped to keep the team from seeing aspects of his past that might - might frighten his team - make them fear him -

 _Your deepest nature is nothing they will fear or despise._

That was what Allura had told him before they'd started this _._

Shiro trusted Allura - and you couldn't have a team without trust.

Without trust, there was no way he could be part of this team.

 _Here goes nothing,_ Shiro said to his Lion, and with an effort of will, he stopped trying to push away the images of his year under the Galra.

 _Haggar watched him from the shadows, but Shiro refused to let her break his spirit._

 _...'She still has the advantage over us...everyone always does..that's what makes us **special** '..._

 _He shouted for blood and struck down a friend, but faced monster after monster without becoming one._

 _...'I'm gonna...have to go...with wrath'..._

 _He fought for an entire year without rest, without relief, and made his way back home to warn his planet about the Galra threat._

 _...'We're going for a ride'..._

 _Haggar was furious, snarling and screaming at him, but Shiro refused to become like her._

 _He was Takashi Shirogane, and she could not change him. She could not make him her Champion._

Huh. Shiro really hadn't seen that year in that kind of light before.

Black purred again in his mind, sounding immensely pleased with herself.

 _See? I told you that you could trust me._

Shiro was immensely grateful to Black, but his Lion just sounded so damn _pleased_ with herself.

 _You do realize that you're being_ _ **really**_ _smug right now,_ Shiro told her, and then he realized the others could hear him too when they spoke.

 _Yeah, she totally is,_ Hunk said.

 _Has a point, though,_ Lance agreed.

 _Totally hit the nail on the head,_ Pidge said.

 _About_ _ **damn**_ _time you listened to your Lion,_ Keith muttered _. She's only saying what we've been telling you from the start._

Black purred again, and at her words, Shiro felt his shoulders relax, ever so slightly.

 _As I said before, Takashi - you are not someone who inspires fear._

He heard a smile in her next words.

 _But I think you truly know that now._

Shiro didn't really know what to say to that, mentally or otherwise…but maybe he didn't need to. Maybe that was the point.


	6. Elements

Two weeks later, their new and improved training was well on its way.

In front of the Castle, Allura and Pidge were practicing hand to hand combat.

"Out of _all_ the Guardians, of _all_ the Lions, I'm the _one_ Paladin who winds up practicing on a planet where there _no_ forests," Pidge grumbled. She dodged away from one of Allura's kicks and continued.

"I mean, when do I get to practice with _my_ superpowers?"

Allura smiled, even as she followed the kick with a few quick jabs of her fist, which Pidge avoided with ease.

"I'm sure your time will come soon," the Princess said. "But if it makes you feel any better, I don't have superpowers - and I probably won't get any, either - "

Pidge caught her by the wrist and used a move Allura had shown her earlier to bring the Princess down onto one knee.

"Strength _totally_ counts as a superpower," Pidge said, and Allura tapped the ground in concession.

"Well, it's not _super_ \- I'm just - "

But Allura's words were cut off as Lance shouted in excitement over the comms.

"GUYS! GUYS, COME SEE WHAT HUNK'S DOING!"

As the two women turned around, they saw a mound of earth some ways away start to rumble and quake, and then it shot upwards, forming a pillar of solid stone.

"What the _quiznak_ -" Allura said, but Pidge was jumping up and down, hollering in unrestrained glee.

"YEAH, HUNK! YOU GO, EARTHBENDER!"

From atop the newly constructed pillar, Hunk waved down to them. Then he concentrated, called up another pillar of earth, and slid back down it to the moon's surface.

Lance had summersaulted head over heels as the pillar had shot up, but he'd already gotten to his feet. He wobbled, still dizzy from the tumble, but gave his friend an unsteady thumbs up.

"Whooo!" he said again, and had to sit down. "Yeeeaaahhh - whooo - hoooooo - now all we need is -"

Pidge had already activated her comms.

"Keith, come in. How's it going out there?"

There was a hiss and a buzzing noise before Keith's voice came over the comms system.

"YEEEAAAAAAHHH! BANKAI, BITCHES!"

"Sounds like it's going well," Pidge said, even as smoke and a heat haze emanated from a nearby valley. The Red Paladin was a full-on firebender now, and from where he stood watching from a safe distance, Coran smiled contentedly.

"Ah, _Paladins_ ," he said. Lance came to stand by him, and together, they watched as Keith fired - ahaha, get it? - at a giant rock pile they'd made the day before down in the valley. There wasn't any vegetation down there, and it had been Keith's idea to stay away from the other Paladins' practice areas until he could master the element fully.

"I think he likes fire-bending," Lance said conversationally to Coran as they heard Keith give another whoop of joy as he sent another bolt of flame at the already blackened pile of rocks.

"TAKE THAT, OZAI! YEAH - THAT'S RIGHT! I'M TALKIN' TO **YOU**!"

"I think you're right," Coran replied, his eyebrows lifting. "Maybe. Possibly."

Lance clapped Coran on the back. "Aw, Coran, you're learning the joy of understatement. I'm so proud of you - "

Coran made a tally on a notepad he carried, and he called down to Keith.

"Keith! I think you should show the others what you can do - "

Keith looked up, nodded, and the fire died away. Lance felt slightly puzzled, and he looked back over at Coran.

"Uh - I thought Keith could fire-bend - isn't that he was just - "

Coran held up a hand, winking at Lance.

"Just watch."

Lance turned back to look towards where Keith had been standing.

Had been.

He wasn't there anymore.

Lance's jaw dropped and he whirled back to Coran, disbelief written all over his face.

"HE CAN TURN INVISIBLE?!"

Coran face-palmed himself, laughing harder than Lance had ever seen him laugh before.

"No, nononono, Lance - oh my - I'm sorry - your face - ahahaha, no - no, that's not it - he can - "

Then Keith spoke, but his voice didn't come over the comms.

" _Boo_."

Lance jumped three feet in the air and looked behind him. Keith stood a few feet away from him, looking enormously pleased with himself. Lance looked from the valley floor to Keith and back again, and his face lit up with excitement

"What the - Keith - how did you - wait - wait - OH MY _GOD_ \- "

Coran couldn't help himself. He howled with laughter at the way Lance flapped his arms in wild excitement.

"- OHMYGOD - KEITH - YOU JUST _APPARATED_ -"

Keith nodded. "Well - technically I teleported - and I can't do it non-stop - I've only done it a couple times so far - "

Pidge and Hunk had come to stand by them, and Pidge looked around, as if searching for someone.

"Does Shiro know you can do that?" she asked, and Keith nodded.

" _Duh_ ," he said, as if that should be self-evident. "I showed him first - _obviously_ \- "

"Where _is_ Shiro?" Hunk asked, looking around as well. "I haven't seen him in a while - "

"He said something about talking to Black," Pidge said. "But that was a while ago - "

Then they saw Shiro coming towards them, and they all ran to meet him half-way. Coran headed back towards the Castle, intent on preparing a delicious Paladin dinner.

"Keith just apparated!" Lance said, and Shiro raised an eyebrow.

"I thought it was teleportation - " he said to Keith, who sighed and nodded.

"Yeah, that's what I told Lance before - but I guess he likes Harry Potter terminology better than X-Men abilities - "

"I do not!" Lance said. "And anyway - you can't be Nightcrawler if you're the Red Paladin - he's completely blue - "

"Like that had _anything_ to do with his teleportation abilities, Lance - "

Pidge elbowed them both in the sides, ssshing them. "Quiet, you two! Shiro has something to tell us!"

Shiro nodded, looking up at the afternoon sky for a second before looking back at them all.

"You all know I'm the Guardian of the Sky, right?"

"…yeah…" Hunk said, feeling confused. "Does that make you an air-bender?"

Shiro laughed. "Not really."

Lance's eyebrows furrowed in confusion. "What, then?"

Shiro grinned.

"You might want to step back a few paces."

Hunk looked confused for a few moments, but then his face cleared, and his eyes widened.

"Holy crow - Shiro - are you a - a - "

Keith thought that Shiro was smirking. Really smirking now, like he had at the Garrison when he had just accomplished the honor of becoming the youngest pilot in the history of space exploration.

"Just watch."

They all took a few paces back from Shiro, who breathed in, once, deeply.

Light - clear, white, pure light - began to pulse and dance between the fingers of his left hand, and it took Lance a second to realize what it was.

It wasn't light.

It was lightning.

Freaking. Lighting.

Shiro grinned at all of their expressions.

"Pretty neat, huh?"

Lance squeaked, and Keith whooped. "Awesome, Shiro!" Hunk made a fascinated sound and Pidge brought her face closer.

"How - " she asked, but Shiro only shrugged, smiling. Keith hadn't seen Shiro smile like that in a long time.

"Apparently this wasn't something Haggar could take away," he said. "Black said something about powers manifesting from one's truest nature - or something like that."

"WOW!" Lance said, grinning back at Shiro. "That's amazing, Shiro!"

Shiro nodded, glancing at the first pillar Hunk had managed to create, a thoughtful look crossing his face.

"Hunk - do you mind if I - "

Hunk grinned. "Aw, no worries, man, you can totally use it for target practice. I'll just make another one tomorrow - "

"Okay then," Shiro said, and he took in another deep breath, closing his eyes for half a second. When he opened them again, Lance thought he saw sparks of lightning reflecting in his friend's dark grey eyes.

"Let's try - _this_ \- "

Shiro pointed his left hand at the center of the pillar, and a bolt of lightening shot straight through the pillar of rock, completely cutting it in two.

There was a crash, and a cloud of dust, and everyone coughed for a few minutes, but once the dust settled down, the five Paladins of Voltron looked at each other.

Then they all went crazy.

"HAHA! WE ALL HAVE SUPERPOWERS NOW!" Lance shouted, hugging Hunk, who hugged him back.

"OH THOSE GALRA MESSED WITH THE WRONG PEOPLE!" Pidge hollered, punching Keith in the arm.

"HOW ARE WE GOING TO USE THESE POWERS IN BATTLE?!" Hunk screamed in joy.

"I DON'T KNOW - BUT IT'S GOING TO BE **AMAZING** WHEN WE DO - " Lance shouted back at him, and then he realized Shiro was just looking at his Galra hand.

"Greatest weapon, huh?" he said, and he was smiling. It was a hard smile, but there was genuine pleasure in it too.

From where she sat near the Castle, Black heard her Paladins' words in her mind, and she purred in satisfaction at knowing what he meant.

" _Nice try, Haggar - but I think you failed in the end."_

Then Shiro looked over at the other Paladins, and they grinned back at him.

"So…should we call you Iroh now, or what?" Keith asked, and Shiro laughed. For the first time in a long time, it sounded carefree.

"You know that makes you Zuko, right?"

Keith made an indignant sound. "You are _not_ my uncle - you are _way_ too young for that - "

They headed back towards the Castle, still debating whether or not Shiro was technically Iroh or Space Dad. Shiro smiled to himself as he listened. Honestly, he was fine with either one.

They weren't Team Avatar, but they were a team.

And at the end of the day, that's what mattered.


End file.
